War against banana pests

AusAID’s Agricultural and Innovation Grants Scheme (AIGS) continues to assist in the development of agricultural practice in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Star reported.
The organisation was at the forefront of a project training farmers to deal effectively with banana scab moth and banana fruit fly in East New Britain.
The project, which was estimated at more than K143,000 will be undertaken collaboratively by the University of Natural Resources & Environment (Unre) as lead organisation and National Agricultural Research Institute (Nari) as partner 1.
It aimed to introduce farmers to a systematic combined management approach to contain the two pests, increase banana production and improve their livelihoods through increased income.
Unre’s farmer training arm, Kairak Vudal Resource Training Centre (KVRTC) was listed as partner 2 and is responsible for the actual training of farmers.
According to project initiator, former UNRE lecturer Dr Mark Ero, the pests were a serious threat to growers in the region.
Ero, who was speaking at an introductory meeting of project partners , said alternative crops to cocoa were essential for the region’s economy.
 “Banana can be one such alternative crop to help farmers earn an income, particularly because of its importance and high diversity in the province,” he said.
“Like any other crop, though, it has its pests, so this project will train farmers how to manage these pests to increase their production.”
Around 200 farmers will receive the training, which will also cover wide-ranging issues the cross cut across the agricultural industry, such as AIDS/HIV.